The pronunciation of the vowel I in Romanian deserves special attention.

Even though Romanian is a phonetic language (by looking at a word you know how it should be pronounced), the vowel i is pronounced differently depending on:

• its position in a word
• the vowels before or after
• the group of consonants before

1. Normal pronunciation of vowel i pronounced as a plain i, phonetic transcription: /i/

Under normal circumstances (all cases except for the ones below) the vowel i is pronounced as in the table below as a well articulated i.

How to pronounce the Romanian vowel i
Position of the lips:
Position of the tongue:
Phonetic Transcription:	/i/ (see below for the other possibilities: /j/ or /ʲ/)
English equivalent sound :	free

English	Romanian translation	Audio	Phonetic Transcription
island	insulă		/'in.su.lə/
indirect	indirect		/in.di.'rekt/
harmless	inofensiv		/in.o.fen.'siv/
comedian	comic		/'ko.mik/

In most cases i at the end of a word is pronounced as a short, silent i together with the previous vowel or consonant. This type of i is barely heard. Nevertheless it is very important to pronounce it (silently) as without this "barely pronounced vowel i" the meaning of the Romanian word can change.

The final i is usually the plural marker, or the marker of the second person verbs singular and plural conjugations. Without the final i you can get (sometimes, not all the times) the singular of that word, or the same verb conjugated at a different person.
Therefore the final i, even though it's a mild i, barely heard i, is nevertheless there.

English	Romanian translation	Audio	Phonetic Transcription
shoes	pantofi		/'pan.tofʲ/
actors	actori		/ak'torʲ/
you see (where "you" refers to one person)	tu vezi		/tu vezʲ/
you go (where "you" refers to one person)	tu mergi		/tu merʤʲ/

Just to picture the difference that the final short "i" pronounced as /ʲ/ makes, please listen to these two forms of the verb "to go", "a merge", where the difference in the verb form is given only by the final "i":

English	Romanian translation	Audio	Phonetic Transcription
I go	eu merg		/jew merg/
you go (where "you" refers to one person)	tu mergi		/tu merʤʲ/

In Romanian it happens frequently that the subject "eu" or "tu" is left out, therefore whenever you would hear "merg", or "mergi" it is important to know whether there was a final silent "i" or not.

The two words below: actor (actor) and actors (actori) are also meant to help you practice your Romanian listening skills by recognizing the words with a silent / reduced "i" at the end or the ones without an "i" at the end.

English	Romanian translation	Audio	Phonetic Transcription
actor	actor		/ak'tor/
actors	actori		/ak'torʲ/

As explained under point 2 above, in most cases "i" at the end of a word is pronounced as a short "i" which is marked in phonetics as /ʲ/. However there are certain exceptions from this rule when a final "i" in Romanian is pronounced as a "full i" as in point 1, marked in phonetics with /i/.
These are only a few and quite rare exceptions where the final "i" is preceded by the combination of these consonants: "fl","bl","tr","cl","cr","dr".

English	Romanian translation	Audio	Phonetic Transcription
you find out or you get to know or you learn or you hear	tu afli		/tu afli/
centimeters	centimetri		/'ʧen.ti'me.tri/
blue referring to plural masculine nouns	albaștri		/alˈbaʃ.tri/

Another category of exceptions are the monosyllabic (short words) words ending in "i". The most obvious example is the word "și" (and) where you can hear a clear "i" at the end of the word.
The last exception are the Romanian infinitive verbs ending in "i": "a citi, a vorbi, a iubi, a auzi, a stropi". The stress of all these verbs is on the last syllable, thus on the last "i" that gets to be pronounced as a plain "i".

English	Romanian translation	Audio	Phonetic Transcription
to hear	a auzi		/a a.u'zi/
to talk	a vorbi		/a vor'bi/
to read	a citi		/a t͡ʃi'ti/

The two letters in "ci" are pronounced integrated and together as /ʧi/. Similarly, "gi" is pronounced as /ʤi/. It is important to note that "c" and "g" are "softened" by the "i", because without the "i" that follows, let's say "c" followed by "a" leads to the normally expected /ka/ pronunciation where one can clearly identify one sound independent of the other.

English	Romanian translation	Audio	Phonetic Transcription
Who	Cine		/'t͡ʃi.ne/
cyclone	ciclon		/
five	cinci		/ʧinʧʲ/
Ciprian - a Romanian first name	Ciprian		/ʧi.pri'an/
Gigi a Romanian first name	Gigi		/'ʤi.'ʤʲ/
you go (where "you" refers to one person)	tu mergi		/tu merʤʲ/

Another complicated case in the Romanian pronunciation is the double "ii". In the next lesson, you will hear the Romanian combined vowels pronunciation including the double "ii".